by Clare Bishop-Sambrook, Lead Technical Adviser, Gender and Social Inclusion, Policy and Technical Advisory Division

Accurate evaluation of results and impact has become a top priority for IFAD and our partners over recent years but in the field of gender equality there is still a long way to go. To measure women’s empowerment in a meaningful way, data have to be not only disaggregated by sex but also to reflect the reality of women’s lives.

In May, the Rome-based
agencies participated in an Expo event organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation focusing on “Measuring the empowerment of rural
women”. The
event was opened by a think-piece on the key issues and challenges
of measuring rural women’s empowerment by Marco Zupi from Centre for International
Political Studies. Other panellists were from ACRA-CCS Foundation
and AIDOS.

On behalf of IFAD, I reported
on the Fund’s special interest in this topic in recent years, both at the global and corporate
levels.

At the global level, we have contributed
substantially to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) discussions around
rural women’s empowerment. The need for active engagement drew on the
experience from 2012 when the RBAs, together with UN Women and other agencies,
set out to report
on the progress of rural women against the eight MDGs.

However, there were challenges.
Many of the data were not disaggregated by sex, yet alone by rural-urban
dimensions – hence the information available was patchy and incomplete. More
importantly, many of the indicators did not resonate with the lives of rural
women.

Women farmers are major
producers of food and yet their efforts are regularly hampered by their lack of
access to productive resources, inputs, technologies, services and markets. And
it is about more than just the role of women as economic actors. We also want
to know if there have been improvements in the quality of their lives, in terms
of nutrition, health, gender-based violence and the use of harmful traditional
practices.

This lack of valid, useful data
spurred us on to play a more active role in ensuring that the new SDGs would
reflect more meaningful change from the perspective of rural women,
with a focus on economic empowerment, decision-making and voice, workloads and
quality of life. We were active in the drafting of proposed indicators for SDG2
on Hunger, food security and nutrition,
sustainable agriculture. We also ensured that
rural women’s perspective was reflected in SDG5 on Gender equality and women’s
empowerment.

At the corporate level, there are
gaps in the data we regularly collect from the field. We are good at collecting
sex-disaggregated data at the activity and output level: in terms of the number
of women and men trained, who are savers or borrowers, or are members or
leaders of various groups, etc. However, we lose the gender perspective as we
progress to project outcomes and final impacts.

The gender team in PTA has been
working with PMD Front office and SKD to fill this gap. We have adapted theWomen’s
Empowerment in Agriculture Index(WEAI), which was launched in 2012 by
IFPRI, USAID Feed the Future and OPHI. The index measures women’s empowerment
in five domains, which can be grouped to tie in with the three strategic
objectives of IFAD’s policy on gender equality and women’s empowerment (see figure
below).

WEAI Dimensions of
Empowerment

WEAI Indicators

Objectives of

IFAD’S Gender Policy

PRODUCTION

1. Input in productive
decisions

Economic empowerment

2. Autonomy in
production

RESOURCES

3. Ownership of assets

4. Purchase, sale, or
transfer of assets

5. Access to and
decisions on credit

INCOME

6. Control over use of
income

LEADERSHIP

7. Group member

Decision-making and
representation

8. Speaking in public

TIME

9. Workload

Equitable workloads
balance

10. Leisure

We have undertaken statistical
analysis on various WEAI datasets to experiment with fewer indicators, fewer
questions per indicator and the introduction of additional questions to capture
dimensions of empowerment relevant to IFAD’s work. These revised questionnaires
are being piloted in some ongoing impact assessments, the updates to the
Results and Impact Management System (RIMS) and a NEN grant.

And why is there so much attention on
indicators? A lot of work has already been done yet there
is a great deal still to do in the area of indicators for women’s empowerment.
This is because it is vital to find out the
extent to which IFAD-supported projects contribution to gender equality and the
empowerment of women. This is significant as an end it its own right.

However,
perhaps of more interest to an international financial institution such as IFAD
and our drive towards evidence-based investments and policy dialogue, is the crucial
link between women’s empowerment and improved, deeper and more sustainable project
outcomes and impacts.

A special event will be
held later in the year to discuss IFAD’s adaptations to the WEAI.

About IFAD

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided grants and low-interest loans to programmes and projects that have reached several hundred million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The designations employed and the presentation of material in this blog do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IFAD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The designations “developed” and “developing” countries are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process.